Family first for marathon star Jess Trengove, but Tokyo Olympics still on her radar
Marathon star Jess Trengove still has ambitions of competing at next year’s Tokyo Olympics but says her priority is a safe pregnancy and healthy baby.
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Adelaide marathon star Jess Trengove still has ambitions of competing at next year’s Tokyo Olympics but says her priority is a safe pregnancy and healthy baby, due in November.
The 31-year-old, who has won a bronze medal at the past two Commonwealth Games, is 13 weeks pregnant and says she is inspired by some of her competitors, training partners and idols including the late Kerryn McCann who all returned to top-level competition after giving birth.
“Family is a priority of mine and I have always wanted to have children,” Trengove said.
“(Husband) Dylan and I saw our future together with a family, so at the end of last year I sought advice from some medical professionals about the most appropriate time to give us the best chance (of conceiving), because it can be harder for female endurance athletes to fall pregnant given the stresses our bodies are put under.
“We decided to start that process now and it’s happened sooner rather than later and we are both really excited about it.
“To be honest, at the end of last year, I was exhausted physically and mentally. It had been quite a big block of training and racing right back to 2012 when I started running marathons, and I sensed a need to freshen up anyway so this is good timing.
“I’ve backed right off the intensity with my training and the last few weeks watching the London Marathon and then a big 10km race in America, sparked my hunger again so I’ll just have to bottle that up for six months.”
Trengove, who finished 39th in the marathon at the London Olympics in 2012, and 22nd in Rio in 2016, has not ruled herself out of racing in Tokyo next July/August but says she will be guided by her body.
If Trengove plans on making the team, she will need to run a qualifying time after the baby arrives in November and before the qualification window closes at the end of May, 2020.
She will not try to post a qualifying time before becoming a mum.
Trengove is looking to teammates like Sinead Diver — a mother of two who ran a 2:24:11 Personal Best in London at the age of 42 last month — Lisa Weightman, British star Paula Radcliffe and even Grand Slam tennis star Serena Williams for inspiration in returning to the top of her game.
But she says if her body says “no” to Tokyo then she will take aim at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games or other major marathons around the world, including New York and London.
“I’m really fortunate in our sport that we can peak late into our 30s and even Sinead Diver ran a ridiculously fast marathon in London at 42 recently.
“Female distance running in Australia is the best it’s been in a long time at the moment and Australia will have a very strong team in Tokyo.
“If I could be there then that would be amazing, but I’m going into this with a very open mind.
“I’ll take each week as it comes and the priority is having a healthy pregnancy and bub, while maintaining some level of fitness and strength, and I’ll have wonderful support from SASI to help facilitate a return to training.
“I’ll have a Plan A, B and C.”
Trengove, who works as a physio, is also doing a course in women’s health in June and says she is interested in learning more about exercise during pregnancy.
She is still exercising every day which is a mixture of jogging and strength sessions but “running to how I feel” rather than following a program.
“I will be looking at the best running prams to see what’s out there,” she said.
Originally published as Family first for marathon star Jess Trengove, but Tokyo Olympics still on her radar
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